Red Rag

A Victorian community group, VIVAIDS, is a peer-based organisation whose goal is to provide “information and education about illicit drug use so that people who take drugs do so with minimum harm to themselves.” As we know, “harm minimisation” is interpreted by the Tories as “encouraging drug use”.

Right on cue, Robert Doyle, with the enthusiastic support of the Herald Sun has slammed the group for — you guessed it — “encourag[ing] efficient drug use.” If by “efficient” he means “with a minimum number of casualties”, then he’s probably correct.

It’s difficult to assess some of the criticisms raised in the article, as I don’t have access to the group’s magazine, but others relating to its website* are simply ridiculous.

The claim: “A section on the law includes advice on avoiding police questions.”

The reality:

The police are entitled to ask for your name and address ..if they reasonably believe you have or are about to commit a crime… when they reasonably believe you have knowledge of a crime.Even if you do not believe this to be the case, it is probably preferable in most instances to avoid conflict and comply. The best response to any other queries is a calm ‘no comment’ until you have gained legal advice. Similarly you are entitled to request the officers name, rank, place of duty and the nature of the offence they suspect you have committed.

That seems like a relatively straightforward statement of people’s basic rights. A good one, too — measured and helpful.

The claim: “The VIVAIDS website has extensive advice on using drugs and guides to each drug, including advice on ‘how to have a good time’ on some drugs.”

The reality: The website certainly has advice on using drugs — safely. Here are some extracts:

• “Unfortunately people have died when they have had to much and told their friends that they feel like a lie down. These friends have thought they’re OK. and not checked on them, only to find later that the person had actually slipped into a coma and by the time this is noticed - it is to late!”

• “Ketamine is known as Special K … It provides a full on trip effect that people most often describe as ‘interesting’ rather than pleasant. Other side effects are an inability to move, insensitivity to pain and in large doses it can bring about a temporary coma. If you take Ketamine don’t be alone, make sure you have a friend to check on you who is not out of it.”

• “You should feel the effects 20 - 40 minutes after taking it. The first rush can bring nausea and vomiting, this usually passes fairly quickly. If it doesn’t pass and the person is not improving, seek medical help immediately. … It is possible to overdose especially if you have built up a tolerance through excessive use, or if you have mixed other drugs with your E. There have been some reports of liver damage in regular E users ( in some cases fatal ) and there is some concern that E may irreversibly damage nerve receptors in the brain, but so far this has only been proven in animals.”

• “Your heart beat will go up and your eyes will get that red glazed look. Pot impairs your balance, coordination, short term memory, concentration and logic, so it’s pretty dangerous to drive if you’re stoned, especially if you’ve been drinking as well. … Large doses will make all the above mentioned effects more powerful. You may also feel more mellow and lethargic with not much energy or motivation. When having a smoking session with friends you may find that the more the hooch goes around, the less people chat. This can sometimes be caused by ‘tunnel awareness’ ( when you concentrate on one thing and ignore all others). In some people this feeling can make them very paranoid, apprehensive or panicked. Someone depressed or with a bad family history of mental illness is more likely to have a bad reaction.”

• “Regular speed uses don’t feel the urge to eat or sleep and if they’re not careful, they can end up feeling exhausted, irritable and ill. If you let yourself become run down you’re more susceptible to a wide range of infections and general bad health. … Amphetamine Psychosis (similar to Cocaine Psychosis), can occur after extended use and in some people, Speed can trigger underlying psychiatric problems, even after only using once.”

The entire claim seems to be based on this one sentence: “The key to having a good time on acid is to be able to relax and enjoy the effects without having to deal with anything traumatic.” Fortunately, VIVAID describes the potentially traumatic events. Taken in context, the sentence is hardly offensive:

The most important safety measure you can adopt while tripping is to stick with good friends who you trust and make sure you don’t wander off into any potentially dangerous situations such as busy roads, bushland or crowded public places.

The key to having a good time on acid is to be able to relax and enjoy the effects without having to deal with anything traumatic. Don’t trip if you are anxious, tired or feeling down, it will probably make you feel worse rather than shift your mood. You’re also more likely to have a bad trip and you can end up losing emotional control, feeling disorientated, depressed, dizzy and/or panicked.

If someone does lose it, the best thing you can do is to take their mind off whatever is frightening them, state that the panic is caused by the drug, and that it will soon wear off - although with acid it all seems that much longer.

They make it quite clear that LSD is potentially very dangerous. To take that one sentence from this one page and infer that the organisation recommends drug use is simply farcical. Their advice about drugs certainly mentions the positive aspects (pleasant feelings, etc) but there is a strong emphasis on the serious risks involved in drug use. The Herald Sun has engaged in a deliberate misrepresentation.

The claim: The website “links to pro-drug organisations, sex sites and pornographic video outlets.”

The reality: Big whoop. Of their extensive list of links, only a handful fit those categories — and frankly, if you don’t see how (for example) a sex shop might be of interest to a community with a high rate of HIV infections, then you’re an imbecile.

This story is, quite simply, a beat-up. It is reminiscent of the debate over a Western Australian peer-based prostitute’s organisation’s booklet. It advised women to keep their clients happy in order to avoid being bashed, and gave them tips on how to do so. As a result, the group was defunded (although their vocal opposition to the government’s draconian Prostitution Control Bill probably had something to do with it). I wonder how many more prostitutes have been bashed since then.

And I wonder how many more overdoses there would be if VIVAID was hamstrung?

* The website appears to have been replaced with a generic statement of the group’s mission, presumably to avoid a flood of indignant right-wing visitors. However Google’s cache allows us to uncover much of its recent content. Back to text.